Electric cut-out.



P. T. MONALLY.

ELECTRIC GUT-OUT.

APPLIOATION FILED smm'ao, 1909.

Patented Apr. 5, 1910.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ATTORNEYA P. T. MONALLY.

ELECTRIC CUT-OUT.

APPLICATION rum) SEPT. 30, 1909.

954,327, Patented Apr. 5, 1910.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I WITNESSES INVENTUI? f z y Him/p Tw /v54 W521i: BY haunt m;

ATTORNE Y8 P. T. MGNALLY.

ELECTRIC OUT-OUT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.30,1909.'

Patented Apr. 5, .910.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES Mi ATTORNE V8 P. T. MGNALLY.

ELEGTRIC GUT-OUT.

APPLICATION FILED SBPT.30,190Q,

Patented Apr. 5, 1910.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

INVENTUR ///L IP 7 M /V/YLL V WITNESSES ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELECTRIC OUT-OUT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 5, 1910.

Application flied September 3t), 1909. Serial No. 520,354.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PHILIP T. MUNALLY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Mandan, in the county of Morton and State of North Dakota, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in Electric Cut-Outs, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices for operating at a distance, electric switches in branch lines of electric circuits whereby the current may be cut. in or out in said branch lines either from the power house or any remote station, thus controlling the current on said branch lines without cutting off the current in the main line leads.

The .invention has some features which have already been disclosed in my prior patents Nos. 856,085, of June 4, 1907 and 887,501, of May 12, 41908, but has certain changes and im hereinafter described and the novel features of which will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

I have shown my device as operatingon alternatin current circuits, though it will work equa ly as well on direct current circuits and is so intended.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which similar referonce characters indicate like parts in the several views and in which Figure 1 is a front view of the'devi'ce showing one position of the operative mechanism; Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the mechanism in another position; Fig. 8 is a horizontal section along theline 3 -3 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrow; Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of tho kni e switch; Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the dog and stirrup for releasing the knife switch; Fi (i is a detail plan view of thecontacts of t 1e snap switch; Fig. 7 is a section along'the line 7---7 of Eig. (i; Fig. 8 is a detail-section along the line 8 8 of Fig. 6; Fig. 9 is a section along the line %)t) of Fig. 2'; and Fig. 10 is a. diagrammatic illustration of the operating circuits.

' In carrying out my invention 1 provide amain base 1 made of insulating material such a slate or wood. Atone side of the base ate '1 are the laterally ext/ending supports 2 and 3. Secured to the support 2, by means of the screws 4 and 4, are the upper and. l'ower brackets 5 and 5' respectively, preferably of metal, to which the solenoid rovements which will be .the upright 23 has a with the lower contact 24 on the upright 21.

6 is fastened. This solenoid is provided with'an iron core 7, at the lower end of which is adjustably secured a collar 8, rovided with a pair of upwardly exten ing arms 9 and 9'. A rack member ,10 is secured to the solenoid core 7 at its lower end and is arranged to reciprocate in a groove 11 in the edge of a plate 12 secured to the support 3. A b acket 13 is fastened on the outside of the plate 12 and has an arm 13 which forms a boarin for the shaft 14 of the snap switch. T e latter comprises a ratchet 15 having a number of teeth. The ratchet issecured firmly to the shaft 14, while a piniontlti is loosely mounted on the shaft 14 and IE held in. place between the ratchet on on side and a collar 17 secured to the'shaft on the othei side, gsee Fig. 7). The pinion 16 is provided wit a pivoted pawl 18 normally held in contact with the ratchet 15 'by means of the spring 19.

The construction of the snap switch is clearly illustrated in Figs. 6, 7, and 8. It consists of the usual insulating base 20 to which are secured the u rights 21, 22 and 23, respectively. The upright 21 has a lower contact member 24 and an upper contact member '25;- The upright 22 has a single contact member 26 on a lever with the high contact member 25 on the upright 21, while contact 27, on a level Secured to the shaft 14 is the switch member 29 which, as shown in Fig. 6 is provided with three arms (1,12, and c. The arm a. is bent upwardly and then outwardly at its end as shown in Fig. 7 to engage the high con tacts 25 and 26, while the arms'b and c are on a lower level to engage the lower contacts 24 and 27. l a

A control i'nagnet 30 is mounted on the L-shapcd support 31, see Figs. 1 and 2. li-votally secured to the bottom of the support'31 is an armature 32 which is kept away from the magnet 30 by means of ii spring33. A trigger-plate 34 is also pivoted on the support 31 and is provided at its for ward end with a trigger 35 of the shape shown in Figs-1 and 2. Below the control ma met 30 is an elbow lever 36 which is pivota ly cars 38 and 39 carried by the bracket 40.

mounted on a shaft 37 between the The elbow lever 36 has a toe 41 at its 11 per end arranged to engage the outer end 0 the late 34. A spring 42 is attached to end is attached to a lever arm 43 of the knife switch, the lever 36 being slotted to permit the spring 42 to pass through, in the manner shown in Fig. 3. The arm 43 which, as shown, is pivoted on the same shaft 37 as that on which the elbow lever 36 is mounted, has a bearing 44 which straddles the bearing of the lever 36 as shown in Fig. 3. Supported on the bearing 44, on one side of the lever 43, is a stop 45provided with a shoulder 46 arranged toengage a dog 47 which is pivotally mounted on bracket 48 carried by the supports 40. operated by means of the stirrup 4%) which 18 adj ustably secured to a slotted rod 50 suspended Irom a lever 51 which in turn is pivotany mounted at :32 in the adjustable bracket 53 secured to the base '1. The opposite or free end of the lever 51 is arranged to engage the adjustable stop 54 which may be moved upwardly or downwardly to limit the movement of the lever. that the lever 51 is bent so that its free end may lie parallel with the free ends 36 and 36 of the elbow lever 36, these ends being bent around the solenoid 6 in the manner clearly shown in Fig. 3.

in Fig. 4 l have shown the spring jaws 55 of the knife switch. These jaws are arranged to receive the conducting member 56 which is secured to the lever 43, both the jaws 55 and the connecting member 56 being suitably insulated from the parts upon which they are supported.

The terminals 57Jand 58 of the solenoid 30, of the control magnet are brought out to the binding posts 59 and 60 respectively. The terminal 61 of the solenoid 6 is brought to the side 55* of the knife switch while the opposite side 55 is connected with'the binding post 62, see Fig. 10. The standard 23 of the snap switch is connected to the binding post 63, standard 22 to the binding post 64 and the standard 21 tothe binding post 65. The terminal 6 of the solenoid 6 is connected with the standard 21. In Fig. 2 I have shown a common connecting bar 66 provided with binding posts 67 and 68 to which the lamps 69 and 70 are attached, this being merely for convenience of explanation and not at all necessary to the apparatus.

The circuit connections are illustrated in Fig. 10, in which the generator is shown at G, the line wires at 71 and 72, the transformer at 73 and the secondary wires 7 4 and 75 leadin from the transformer. The control circuit of the magnet 30 comprises the battery B and key K and the conductor 76 leading to the magnet 30. The other terminal of the magnet may be grounded as shown or it may have a metallic return 77.

i From the foregoing descri tion of the various "parts of the device t e operation thereof may be readily understood.

The dog 47 may be It will be observed 65, 74 back to the transformer.

Let us assume that the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 10. The elbow lever 36 will be in the position shown in Fig. 1 with the toe 41 engaging the trigger plate 34 to hold the lever in position, such that no current can pass through the solenoid 6. The arm 43 o the knife switch will be held u by the spring 42. The rack '10 however, an the arms 9 and 9' will be in the position shown in Fig. 2 t'. e.,in a lower position. In Fig. 10 it will be noted that the arm a is in engagement with the high contact 25 on the standard 21, the arm b being in engagement with the low contact 27 on the standard 23. The arm c,'however, is below the high contact 26 on the standard 22 as may be seen by an inspection of Fig. 8. The lamp 70, therefore, is the only 'lamp in circuit, the secondary circuit from the transformer 73.being through the conductors 75, 62, lamp 70, '63, 23, 27, b, a, 25, 21, 65 and 74. If now 'theke K be pressed the control magnet 30 will be energized, the current flowing from battery through 76 and 30, ground Sif the circuit has a ground return, or 77 if t 1e metallic return is used) 80, key K, 81 and battery. The control magnet pulls up the armature 32 which catches the trigger 35 thereby raising the trigger plate 34 and permitting the elbow lever 36 to drop. This elbow lever has considerable weight and it forces down the arm 43 of the knife switch and the connecting member 56 falls between the spring jaws 55 and 55 thereby completing the following circuit: 75, 68, 62, 55, 56, 55",'6l, solenoid 6, conductor 6, 21,

The energization of the solenoid 6 causes the core 7 to be drawn upwardly. The arms 9 and,9' each are attached to the core and engage the end of the lever 36 thereby stretching spring 42 as the lever 36 moves upwardly. The knife switch however, will not immediately respond to the tension of the spring 42 because it is held locked by the dog 47 which engages the shoulder 46 on the cam 45. The purpose of locking the switch is to give the solenoid 6 time to act before its awn circuit is broken. The arms 9 and 9' on their upward movement. finally engage the lever 51 to which the stirrup 49 is attached by means of the link 50 and as the stirrup moves upward it engages the extended end of the dog 47, thereby throwing the latter downwardly and permitting the shoulder 46 upon the cam 45 to move upwardly with the arm 43 and the contacting member 56 of the knife switch. The position of the parts at this state of the operation is shown in Fignl.

It will be seen that the elbow lever 36 is thrown past the trigger late 34 which has fallen down into its or ginal position by the camming of the trigger off from the end of the armature by the stud 82 on the bottom edge of the solenoid 30. The upward move bringing I effected at the ends ment of the rack turns the pinion l6 and (through the-pawl 18) the ratchet 1:) approximately 21 third of a revolution, thereby the high arm a above the low contact 27 on the standard 23, the low arm b below the high contact 26 on the standard 22, and the arm 0 into engagement with the low contact 2* on the standard 21. It will be observed that neither the arms a, b, or c are in engagement with their continuous contacts. lherefore,both of the lamps 69 and T0 are extin uishcd. As soon as the pressure is relieved rom the key K, the control circuit is broken and the armature 32 drops back camming the trigger 35 outwardly by its beveled edge so that. the trigger remains hooked over the armature ready for the next operation. As soon as the solenoid 6 is deenergized the. core 7 together with the rack 10 drops downwardly carrying the )llllOll l6 backward, the spring pawl 18 ri ing over the teeth, into position and ready for a. subsequent movement.

If it is desired to switch on both of the lamps ($9 and 70, the key K is depressed and the switching action which has been de scribed causes the turning of the snap switch a third of a revolution, bringing the high arm a into engagement with the high contact 26 on the standard 22, the low arm b into engagement with the low contact 24 on the standard 21 and the low arm 0 into engagement with the low contact 27 on the standard 23. In this position contacts are of each of the arms a, b and c and currents through the lamps will flow to the return connected with the standard ll thereby lighting both lam is. A subsequent closure of the key K wil bring the snap switch into its initial )osition with one of the lamps lighted as before explained.

It will be observed that I have provided for the vertical adjustment of the arms 9 and S) by means of the set screws 84 an the stop 54 by the slot and pin arrangement 54". The lever 51 may also be adjusted by the slot and screw arrangement '53 of the bracket. 53 while the vertical ad'ustment of the stirrup 49 may be accomplished by a similar arrangement at -19.

While I have shown the operating device for the snap switch in connection with a )articular kind of switch it is obvious that it. may be used merely to turn otf or, on cir-. cnits 1 successive closures effected by means of the rey K in the control circuit, the essential feature consisting in the reciprocatory movements of the actuating rack which operates the switch in a given direction to a predetermined distance.

1. The combination with the electric cironit of a main switch, provided with a loose pinion, in said circuit, a solenoid arranged to be thrown across the main circuit, a core dof for said solenoid, having at its lower f'extremity a rac arranged to engage; the pinion on the main switch and a pain of upwardly extending arms adapted to straddle the solenoid, an auxiliary controlling the circuit of the solenoid, a pivotally mounted elbow lever, provided with extended arms at one end arranged to straddle the solenoid and to be engaged by the upwardly extending arms on the core, a

control magnet, a pivoted triggerplate arranged to engage one end of the elbow lever and to be drawn out of engagement with said elbow lever when the control magnet is energized, an inte ral stop ated with said kni e switc i, a dog arranged to enga e said stop, a release lever, a stirrup suspen ed therefrom and arranged, to engage the dog for releasing the knife switch,

one of said upwardly extending arms being arranged to engage the free end of said release lever subsequently to its engagement with the elbow lever, means for ad usting the vertical height of the upwardly extending. arms, means for adjusting the release lever and means for adjusting the movement of the dog.

2. The combination with an electric circuit, of a main switch in said circuit provided with a loose pinion, a solenoid in the main circuit, arranged to be thrown across said circuit, a core for said solenoid, having at its lower extremity a rack arranged to engage the pinion on the main switch and a pair of upwardly extending arms adapted to straddle the solenoid, an auxiliary knife switch for controlling the circuit of the solenoid, a pivotally mounted elbow lever ada ted to be engaged by the upwardly exten ing arms on the core, a pivoted trigger-plate arranged to engage one end of the elbow lever and to be drawn out of engagement with said ether lever when the control magnet is energiz d, an integral stop member associated with 0 knife switch a dog arranged to engage sai stop, a release lever, a stirrup suspended therefrom and arra ed to engage the do for releasing the knife switch, one of said upwardl extendin engage the free en of said release lever subsequently to its engagement with the elbow lever, and means for adjusting the throw of the release lever.

3. The combination with an electric circuit, a main switch in said circuit, a soleno d in a branch circuit arran co to be throw across the circuit control ed bythe main switch, a core for said solenoid, having a.

air of upwardly extending arms, an auiiliary switch for controlling the circuit of the solenoid, a pivotally mounted elbow lever for operating the last named switch, ada' ted to be engaged by the upwardly ex ten ing arms on the core,

knife switch for 70 member associ 30 the throw of 90 a control magnet, 105

arms being arranged to 11 a control magnet, 1w

a trigger-plate associated with said control magnet for keeping the elbow lever in initial position, means for locking the auxiliary switch, a release lever, means associated with the release lever for releasing the locking means, said release lever being arranged for engagement by said upwardly extending arms subsequently to their engagement with the elbow lever.

4. The combination with a main circuit, of a main switch therefor, a branch circuit from the main circuit provided with a solenoid, an auxiliary switch for controlling the solenoid circuit, a core for the solenoid provided with u wardly extendin arms, means for locking tiie auxiliary switc a weighted lever for operating the auxiliary switch adapted to be engaged by said arms for resettlng the auxiliary switch, a release lever for unlocking said auxiliary switch, said release lever being actuated by the upward movementpf the arms ofsaid core subsequently to their enga ement with the operating and resetting fiver.

5. The combination with a main circuit, of a main switch therefor, a branch circuit rovided with a solenoid, an auxiliary switch for controlling the solenoid circuit, means for locking the auxiliary switch, means for operatin the auxiliary switch adapted to be engaged y the core of the solenold for resetting the auxiliary switch and a release lever for unlocking said auxiliary switch.

PHILIP THOMAS MCNALLY'.

Witnesses:

BARLEW K. SKEELS, EDWARD MGHUGII. 

